It’s why I call them dummycrats. They think that windmills and solar batteries are more important than people. As for me, that’s sort of dumb. As for me, that is outright stupid. There is a man I worked with that had an expression for them, “Dumber than dirt.”
Monthly Archives: March 2020
The Admiral Knows
A number of years ago, I saw commercial on TV. I only saw it once. Maybe they received some flack over it. On the other hand, maybe someone realized how ridiculous it was.
A retired admiral said that he knew what it was like to be in the military and spend long periods of separation from families. (sorry, I don’t recall the exact words. I’m sure you get the idea.)
At any rate, it is one of the biggest mistakes a leader can make. When I went in the Marine Corps, I went in as a private. I did not get my first stripe for months. When that Admiral went in the Navy, my best guess is that he went in as an ensign. If he was a pilot, he likely never stepped aboard a ship before getting his first promotion.
Guess what? It is not the same. Disregarding the difference in service, an O-1s and O-2s are officers. Officers, regardless of service they never undergo the true riggers of us who went in as E-1s. I would expect that it is even more true in the Navy. I would expect that that admiral never knew what it was like to live like an enlisted man on a destroyer… or a sub. My guess is that his first assignment was on an aircraft carrier, though I don’t know. It just is that most admirals get their start as pilots. Few pilots get orders to destroyers or cruisers.
For him to say he knew what it was like for the enlisted men is a bold-faced lie and is very inconsiderate especially if he was unaware of his error. He owes us all an apology, or at least the enlisted men in the Navy.
What’s more, I know he just lost the respect of most enlisted in all services. I have heard others make such speeches. When I hear them, it is rare I believe them, especially an officer.
When I went over to Vietnam, I was assigned an 8 by 8 foot space to live in and, compared to those in the infantry, I had it good. If that admiral ever went to Vietnam, I wonder just how rough he had it.
Oh, and by the way, I wonder just how many ports of call he had while he was on duty in Nam. There are a few Navy officers that fought on land during the Vietnam war, but even they had it better than the enlisted that they commanded.
I get it. It is a fact of military life. R.H.I.P. (Rank Has Its Privileges.) However, don’t ever try to tell me you had it as bad as I did. Don’t tell me you had to serve on mess duty. Don’t tell me you had to walk a post in the rain after little or no sleep. That sort of thing just doesn’t happen to officers. It is the sort of thing I would expect a dummycrat to say.
Scattered
Up to this point, I have used the history recorded in the Holy Scriptures as a basis of what I have written. I am about to go into the time where the Bible is pretty much silent. From the time the Jews went back into the Promised Land until the birth of Jesus, there is little or nothing recorded in the Bible. Also, the only history we have after His birth is in the New Testament. For those who have read the New Testament, I don’t have to tell you how much is in it.
And so it is that we must rely somewhat on secular history. Even there, we must borrow a little from here and a little from there and patch it together. Also we must remember where I left you at the end of my last post. The Jews just returned to Israel.
If you have not read my previous posts, I would encourage you to do so at this time. For those who don’t want to, let me give you a sketch of how things were after the Jews were allowed to return to Israel. Some were already there. They never left. Some were in Egypt and other parts of northern Africa. Some remained in Persia. Nothing that I know of says as much, but my guess is that a third to half of those in captivity remained in Persia.
Even before they were allowed to return to Israel, some likely migrated north, east and a few northwest. Regardless, many went north and into what we now know as Ukraine and Russia. We know this because the tsar of Russia tormented them.
I have seen Fiddler on the Roof several times, including the stage version once. After seeing the stage version, I did quite a bit of research and have found it historically accurate. I also read the book on which the musical was based and I found it very eye-opening.
From the late 1800’s to about 1917, tsarist Russia caused the Jews quite a bit of torment. Finally, just before he was overthrown, he forced many of the Jews out of the country.
As the movie implies, they went every which way. Some went to Israel, though it was no longer called Israel. Some went to the US, those who could. Some went to Poland and others to Germany and France. I hope I don’t have to explain what happened to most of those but I will.
About 6 million were killed by the Germans. However, there is no telling how many were eventually killed by the Soviets. Many estimate that was another 6 million. That meant that there were far more than 12 million in the area.
The thing that bothered me about the musical The Fiddler on Roof was that the Russians effectively chased the Jews right into the jaws of Hitler. Before I saw the Movie, I didn’t know that. I would guess there are many others who were ignorant of it too.
As bad as it was, it was foretold. It was part of the punishment pronounced by God because they refused to repent. They continued to follow their idols and they gave the idols the credit for what God did.
However, God did promise that the seed of Abraham, through Isaac, would become many people. I would suspect that there are many Jews in this world who do not know they are Jews. After all, it was not healthy to be Jew. Even in the US they were treated badly, even today.
Another promise God gave to Abraham was that He would bless those who blessed his people and He would curse those who cursed his people. It was a dumb thing that Stalin, Linen and Hitler did. It was a dumb thing that many people have done through the ages. Egypt was a great nation, until they enslaved the Israelites. Assyria and Babylonia fell to the Persians after they enslaved the Jews. Hitler fell as quickly as he arose. Moreover, I suspect that he suffered greatly the last year or so before he committed suicide.
Some say Hitler survived and escaped to some other country. In a way, I hope he did. The man was suffering insanity and agonizing headaches. Either way, by now, he is paying the price for what he did, as are his cohorts. When he started on the Jews, Hitler assured his downfall.
After the war, Germany was virtually nothing. It was a divided country and they were completely dependent upon the allies for their subsistence and their sustenance. Without the mercy of the allies, the vast majority of the Germans would have passed into obscurity.
Also, shortly after the war, the country of Israel was again reestablished. That is nothing short of a miracle. Moreover, every time some nation(s) attacked them, Israel was the overpowering victor. Egypt lost the entire Sinai Peninsula. Now that had to be embarrassing.
The reestablishment of the country of Israel was foretold, but this is not yet fully fulfilled. Many events must happen first, but the rest can be completed in months, if not weeks.
One day, many years ago, my brother told me that we, our family were jewesh. It only goes to show that people are more likely to believe the lie when they want it to be true.
First let me say that there is a remote possibility that he might have been right, though not likely. My mother’s maiden name was Fine. From what I understand, this is a Jewish name, though I really have no idea, one way or the other.
The point is this. There are charlatans in the world that would have you believe all sorts of things and, for instance “The Lost Tribe of Dan.” Also, some would have you believe that the royalty of England and other European countries are descendants of David, King of Israel.
Mostly, I doubt them, even at their simplest claims. Also, if God wants me to know I am a Jew, he has several ways he can let me know without using vain self-indulgent people trying to make their fortune off my vanity.
Now. Are there thousands of Jews who don’t know their heritage? Yes. Perhaps even millions. However, many have intermarried to the point that we might be dealing in fractions.
More than that, there are two ways of identifying Jews, by religion and by birth. Not all Jews were born Jews. God has permitted people to adopt both the nationality and the faith.
Two women are specifically identified as doing so. Rehab of Jericho was saved by her faith and Ruth married Boaz. Interestingly, both were recorded in the ancestry of Jesus.
For those who have not seen The Fiddler on the Roof, I would suggest you watch it. Maybe those who have seen it, you might want to look at it from the historical point of view. Maybe then you just might gain a different look at the Jews.
Whichever, remember, the Jews are God’s chosen people. They might or might not deserve it, but, by honoring them, you honor God. When you honor God, it is to your benefit.
Jew or not, after all my research, I have grown to respect and even love them. Indeed, Israel is the only place outside of the US that I would like to visit. With my income, I don’t think that will happen. Not unless some people start buying my books.
Speaking of my books, I have written over 35 of them. Though a few of them contain some Christian overtones (or undertones, not sure which), one of the books is completely Christian based. Friday, Mar 27, I will make it free on Amazon.com. The book’s title is, “Going Home.”
You should be able to find the book as well as other on my author’s page:
http://www.amazon.com/author/story_teller
If the above doesn’t work, just sign onto Amazon.com and look for me, Ben Rhodes under authors. You might also just look for the title but you might not have as much success.
The book is basically about an atheist woman who left her parents because her father insisted on her going to church. Now she must go home. If she were alone, maybe not. However, she has three kids to feed.
Into Captivity
In my last post, I discussed the origin of the Israelites and I suggested the reading of a few books of the Holy Bible to verify my post. Indeed, I would hope you would read them, especially those who have not read them before in their entirety.
The first five books of the Bible and the book of Joshua explain the origin of the Israelites. The books of Joshua, Kings and Chronicles explain the history as they lived in the Promised Land.
To be sure, in this post I want to concentrate on the events leading up to their going into captivity. However, before I do this, I need to call one thing to your attention.
Shortly after the Israelites crossed over into the Promised Land, the book of Joshua records a very important event. God called for the Israelites to chose Whom they would serve. God called them to a pair of mountains and call out the blessings that they would receive for following God. He also required them to call out the curses for not following God. They had a choice and they chose to follow God.
God promised that, even if Israel strayed, if they would repent and follow the Lord, he would heal their land and bless them. However, he told them that if they did not repent, that, among other things, He would scatter them throughout the world.
If we read Judges, and I wish you would, you will see several cases where they disobeyed God and worshiped idols. In some respects, they were worse than those who were in the land before them. Some of the events I find disgusting and I think most everyone would.
Yet, every time, they repented, God forgave them and He healed land and His people prospered.
It was God’s desire that Israel would be an example to the world. He wanted us to know what will happen when a nation follows the Lord. Unfortunately, they were often an example of a nation that did not follow the Lord. Repeatedly He punished them and they repented.
When the nation was split into two kingdoms, the northern kingdom, Israel followed foreign gods. Even though God frequently chastised them, it was only a matter of the degree of disobedience. Finally, as God warned, he sent them into captivity. The Assyrians came down and overthrew Israel and took many of them off into captivity.
Unlike Israel, Judah went through periods of obedience and periods of disobedience. This was mostly recorded in the history of the kings of Judah. When they had a good king, he would destroy the idols and made the people follow God. When they had a bad king, he allowed idol worship, even to the point that he too would worship the idols.
Whenever God would chastise them, they turned from their wicked ways and He would heal their land and the people prospered. In general, my own observation is that they could not stand the prosperity. As they prospered, they turned from God and claimed their success was by their own hands…. Or worse, by the hand of idols.
These oscillations continued over the decades until, finally, Judah refused to repent. When God chastised them, the people wrote it off as coincidence. (Rather as we do today)
So God gave up on them. He sent a prophet, Jeremiah. Today, he is known as the weeping prophet because he was given an impossible task. He was told to try to get the people to repent but God knew they would not and He told Jeremiah from the beginning that he would not succeed. (I know I sort of repeated myself, but it was something worth repeating.)
Jeremiah wrote 2 books, the one bearing his name and Lamentations. Parenthetically, lamentation means an expression of extreme grief or sorrow. God let Jeremiah know some of what was going to happen to Judah and it caused him great sorrow.
God caused the kingdom of Babylon to rise up and attack Judah. Through Jeremiah, He told them not to defend the city of Jerusalem. He told them to give up. The decision was already made and the best thing they could do was accept it.
Instead, they kept fighting to the point that they fulfilled the prophecies that they would eat their own babies and drink their own urine to survive during the siege.
Finally, about 100 years after the fall of Israel, Judah fell.
…BUT it didn’t stop there.
Another nation rose up, Persia and captured both Babylon and Assyria. I guess God planned it that way. Now, both Israel and Judah were under the authority of one king.
…and so it was that the entire nation of was again under one authority. However, not all of Israel was in Persia. Some remained in the Promised Land, those who were not taken away. Some went south, many into Egypt. To some degree, they were already scattered as God foretold back in the Book of Joshua.
After 70 years of captivity, fulfilling prophecy, the Israelis were allowed to return home. In the Scriptures, the numbers returning was recorded accurately by tribe. However, there is no recording of how many remained in Persia. There is no way of telling where they went or how many remain to this day in Iran.
One of God’s unconditional promises was that He would greatly multiply the seed of Abraham and He did. It is very likely that the number of Israelites doubled, tripled or greater while captive. Many Israelites can continue to trace their history back through time. Others have tried to hide their history. They find it safer.
Also, during their captivity, there was some intermarriage. The Book of Ester explicitly records the marriage of one Israeli woman to the King of Persia. At this point the scattering of God’s people is well under way, but it has only begun.
In my next post, I will bring us up to date. There is no way I, or anyone can completely follow where all the Israelites have gone, but I find it interesting that God, Himself, calls them Jews, all of them. So, from this point on, so will I. Even though Paul called himself a Jew, he was from the tribe of Benjamin. (I don’t try to explain it. I just take note of it.)
Who Are the Jews?
Much has been said about Jews. However, it has become my experience that few really know anything about them. Much of what has been said or written or said about them is either outright not true or partially false. Moreover, the term Jew and Israelite are mistakenly used interchangeably.
Also, there charlatans, so called preachers who claim that there are millions of Jews, chosen ones, who are unaware of their blessings.
With this three part series, I intend to address both. I will use nothing more than the Holy Scriptures that plainly address both matters. It is all plain for all to see if they will just take the time to read it.
I base this part on the books Genesis, Joshua, I&II kings and I&II Chronicles. You are welcome to read it for yourself. There is nothing difficult about it. It just takes a little time and, if you do read it, you might want to take notes. Who knows? You just might learn something besides what I write. I won’t mind. Really.
Prior to the great flood recorded in the Holy Bible, Noah had three sons. Their names were Ham, Shem and Japheth. One of the descendants of Shem was Abram, later renamed Abraham. Abraham had 8 sons, one by Hagar and 6 by Keturah. Isaac was his only son by Sarah and was the one who was promised by God.
To be sure, God’s promise to be the father of many nations was completely fulfilled through all the sons. I would suspect, even a learned man of ancient history could go nuts trying to figure all the nations descended from these 8 men.
However, Isaac was the son of promise. It was through him that God made two unconditional promises. Isaac had two sons, twins. One was called Jacob and the other Esau. Later, the promises were passed on through Jacob, later renamed Israel. Israel had 12 sons who later became known as Israelites. Sometimes, they were known as Hebrews.
One of the sons of Israel was Judah, the father of the tribe of Judah, the Jews. Hence, we can truly say that not all Israelites are Jews; but all Jews are Israelites. Today, many Israelites are called Jews who are not, though they are truly Israelites.
This is not totally incorrect though. Oddly, even God collectively calls them Jews after their return from captivity. Don’t ask me to explain this. I don’t know.
At any rate, they are one nation, twelve tribes as they enter the Promised Land. As a side note, the tribe of Levi is separated out and the tribe of Joseph was split into two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh. So, though there are still twelve tribes, though the Levites are not counted among them. Every time God commands a census, the Levites are counted separately. Mostly, when the tribes are listed, the Levites are not included. They are the priestly tribe and are treated differently.
Two and ½ tribes remained on the east side of the Jordan. At first, they remained part of the nation of Israel but gradually, they drifted away.
Also, because of the sins of Solomon, the remaining tribes on the west side of the Jordan split. Judah, AKA the southern nation consisted primarily of the Jews, but also included Levites and some Benjaminites. The northern nation became known as Israel.
And so things were until the captivities. To keep this from being too long, I will cover the captivities in my next post. By the way, the captivity is what led to all the confusion.
Cable TV
I discovered something interesting about my cable service (AT&T U-Verse) a couple of weeks ago. There is a way I can hide undesired channels. So, I started hiding channels. Suddenly, my channel surfing has become much faster.
One of the first things I eliminated were those home shopping channels, or anything that was nothing but commercials. I find it difficult to believe but I have been told that there are folks that watch these channels almost continually. I guess if they want to, I have no problems with it, but I see no reason to give them any notice at all. Paying for advertisements sort of irks me.
Then, the other day, the power converter for my DVR went out. Well, actually, I guess it is AT&T’s. They are just letting me use it for a fee. I tried to get in contact with AT&T and the first thing they wanted was my password.
So…, I got on the net and checked with Amazon. Guess what? They had a converter just like it for about 7 and a half dollars. Now, a few days later, I have my DVR back and I didn’t have to deal with AT&T’s no service; and I didn’t need a password.
Between the previous 2 events, I am beginning to have second thoughts about cable, any cable. There are only 5 TV shows I watch on a regular basis and I can get them with an antenna. I do like to watch FOX news, but I can get that over the Internet. I do like watching the Hallmark channel from time to time. The biggest advantage with that channel is that they are generally careful about the ads they put on. It would appear that even that is eroding. They kicked off one ad and you’d think they just started the beginning of the end of the world.
Really, the only reason I got the cable in the first place was for my wife. Here lately, she hardly watches TV much at all. I think she watches it about 4 or 5 hours a month. I may just call them up and tell them to discontinue it, that is, if I can remember my password.
My suspicions are that, if I had it pulled, I wouldn’t miss it. Not only that, I would save over $150 dollars a month. I know some people consider cable a necessity, but I believe they are just selling us a bill of goods. Out all those hundreds of channels there’s not a dozen that have any worth.
Epson 2760
Purchased one of the Epson that claim a year’s ink comes with it about a week ago. I bought the ET-2760 because it was on special at Best buy. The next one up was $150 more. Considering that I am living off Social Security nowadays, I decided on the less costly one, though the more expensive one advertised two sided printing.
Guess what? The ET-2700 has 2 sided printing and it is easier to use than the laser printer I was using. Oddly, I was confused as to why they don’t mention that in the advertising or on the box…as near as I could tell. Maybe I missed it.
The install…via USB port went picture perfect. The only hitch was that I had to fish the ink bottles back out of the trash. It seems that ink needs to be installed twice, once after the basic install. No big deal. Just thought I’d mention it in case any of you want to buy one.
I also have a second computer, my laptop, printing to the printer through the desktop system via my network. Though the install did not go as well, it is due to Windows, not the printer software.
The printer, the scanner and the copy functions work easily. There is a one-button color copy function. I guess just about anyone can do that. I suppose it gets more complex for more complex functions, such as two sided copying. I don’t yet know if it does that.
As near as I can tell, the only thing I gave up by buying the less expensive printer is that it does not have a page feeder for the scanner, copy source function. That is a function I would very rarely use.
One more note: They cautioned to remove all tie downs that they used in shipping. Look carefully. There are a couple that are somewhat hidden.
It isn’t quite as fast as my laser printer, but the ink is less expensive, I hope. Also, my new printer will print the first page in about the same time as my laser printer warmup time. Naturally, you can’t beat laser for quality, but this comes pretty close.
As an aside, I do like the idea that I can monitor the ink levels by just looking through the four windows on the front. I have never seen this advantage anywhere, even in ink jet printers. Just a glance now and then to determine when it is time to order more ink… or go to the store.
For those interested, they can tell Obama and the squad that it is likely more green. I don’t have any sound references, but it does seem to me that ink jet printers use less power than laser printers. Somehow, I don’t think anyone will notice the savings. I suspect I won’t notice it.
Question For Bernie
You think maybe Bernie should have run as a third party in the first place? Look at all he spent to come in 2nd place and you know the dummycrats aren’t going to let him have the nomination, even if they have to cheat as they did before. It is the nature of the dummycrats. Look at all the dead who have been voting in Chicago. Look at all the illegal aliens they’ve been importing. They have learned from their dearly departed leader, Karl Marx. The end justifies the means, regardless. To them, the only evil is that which impedes their conquest. Lying, cheating and deceit are there normal way of life.
Looks to me as if the only people really benefiting from this race are those charging for the advertisements.
Another Free Series
March 7, 2020, you will be able to order free the 3 books from Amazon that make up the Mitch Series. To order them, simply go to my author’s page at :
http://www.amazon.com/author/story_teller
and select those you want. If, by the way, you should find any others you like, feel free to order them. There are over 35 to choose from and not one of them a rehash of the other. You will especially find this series diverse.
The first of the series, “Mitch” is about a private detective who has gone through a traumatic experience and, from time to time has difficulty coping with his past. The story opens when he is about to violate his third rule, which he made in this effort to cope.
In the second of the series, a friend convinces Mitch to re-enter the world of law enforcement to head up a special task force. In his efforts, he discovers a particularly sinister plot. He made the discovery literally based on a thread.
The third one… well, let’s let you find out about that one on your own. After the finish the first two books, you will certainly want to read the third. It will likely surprise you. Maybe not. You just might figure it out on your own. Then again, a few readers never figured it out. For those who don’t figure it out, I enclosed a small explanation at the end of the book.
One more note: I discovered that some browsers do not work with the above URL. There are two that I have tried that failed. I have no idea why. If it doesn’t work for you, simply log onto Amazon.com and do a author search on Ben Rhodes. I have done this a number of times and found it effective. Also you can search on the titles, “Mitch”, “Frequent Flyers” and “Emergency Husband.” These searches work, but you will likely find more clutter. Also, if you perform the author search, you will be more likely to find another story or two of mine that will interest you.
Remember, if you are using a Kindle, you can sample all books before ordering them. Also, you can order a sample of most books free. In addition, for those that like to listen to books, all my books have text-to-audio enabled. You might find this nice should you have a long commute to work. Before I retired, I had an hour commute to work and the drive was made a little more pleasant by listening while I drove. In a few cases, I sat in my car a few minutes after my arrival, just to keep from interrupting a certain passage.
For those interested, none of my books contain profanity or adult situations. These books should be fine for anyone in 9th grade or above. Though there is some violence spoken of, most is indirect and far less than most kids see on TV these days. I would suspect most 7th or even 6th graders see far more violence on TV regularly.
Success
Some people work hard for success.
Others, like the dummycrats, destroy others to succeed. Ever since Mr. Trump became President Trump (and actually a little before) the dummycrats have done what they can to destroy him and his presidency.
In itself, that is bad enough. The problem is that they have no reservations about also destroying the lives of virtually all who are around him. At the least, they destroyed the lives of 4 good people, including a 4 star general with an impeccable record. In addition, they have all but brought the workings of congress to a stop. That is not right.
Even worse, in their effort to destroy President Trump, they have no qualms with causing harm to our nation and its citizenry. This is true even to the point that they cheer when the stock market takes a downturn. …and, this includes the corona virus.
Now tell me, just how dumb is that, to cheer when our country is potentially overrun with a disease that just might cost the lives of, perhaps 3 million. Some of them just might be your grandparents. One or two of them might be relatives or friends who have had transplants. To be sure, anyone who has asthma or COPD is subject to being killed by the virus.
Of course, they don’t care. They don’t mind if businesses and travel all slow or possibly stop. They aren’t the ones who will suffer. They will always have the best of care and they will always have their access to transportation.
I wonder if they have considered what might happen when senators and representatives start showing up on the job wearing masks. Think of how it might be like when that colleague next to him starts coughing and sneezing. Will it become a requirement for representatives to be checked for fever before entering either chamber.
Regardless, the fulfillment of their wish might become their worst nightmare. Many of those, such as Pelosi are old. If they are exposed, the best healthcare will do them little good. There is only so much that even the best doctors and the best medicines can do.
Nonetheless, none of them, unless they become personally threatened by the bug will have any remorse for calling the president a xenophobe for keeping travelers from China out of the US.
It is why I call them dummycrats. It is why I encourage the construction a wall from one coast to the other. Presidents will come and presidents will go; but the wall will continue doing its job for decades or even centuries. It is the only thing, which provides some insurance that, when a dummycrat becomes president, he won’t do something really do something dumb, such as open the flood gates.
bfrhodes99 